End Of Times?

A lot of major historic events have taken place within this week that I would be foolish to not include in my documentation (blog/journal). The first thing has been going on for a couple months but it started in different parts of the world and honestly I didn't think too much of until it started hitting the United States. That's when it started to feel real.

The other thing happened yesterday morning. I experienced my first earthquake. Yes I said earthquake. Something that was not even in my radar of things I thought I needed to be worried about. I've heard my whole life that Utah is due for a big earthquake but somehow that has been pushed so far away from recent thoughts that it came as such a surprise when we actually felt one. Luckily it wasn't 'the' one. Actually I don't know if that's good or bad. I don't know if we would rather get the big one over with or if it will be another thirty years before Utah gets one again. The last earthquake was in 1992. I'm not sure how big that one was but this one registered at 5.7 on the seismograph. The center happened in Magna, UT at 7:09am. Magna is about fifty miles away which I'm really thankful for because if it was closer then more people in my area would have felt that rumble. Now here's the story of what happened in my house yesterday morning. I was in a deep sleep. I was right in the middle of a crazy weird dream when I shot wide awake because of the bed shaking. I can't say what exactly woke me up first. It might have been the shaking bed but it could also have been that loud noise that came from it. I literally heard the earth below me tremble. It was so weird. And so loud. Our blinds were shaking and the ceiling fan above our bed was swaying. I was scared but not confused. I knew right away that we were in an earthquake. Danny had already been awake for quite some time right next to me but was still in bed when it happened. He was actually in the middle of getting up to start his day when it happened and he did get confused and wasn't sure what was happening. His first thought was that the noise came from him when he was setting his phone down on the nightstand next to him. I know that doesn't make sense but when it's early morning not a lot of things do. The whole thing was only five to ten seconds but it felt longer. The thing I'm most grateful for was that my kids slept through it! All three of them. I was shocked that anyone could have but they did. I especially thought at least the boys would because they sleep in cribs that must have surely shook since our big bed that both Danny and I were on definitely didn't stay still. But all three were snoozing away when I checked on them. Right away I started getting calls from my siblings and parents. I found it ironic that they would be checking on me since I was about an hour away from the point of the earthquake and they were the ones who were as close as you can get without actually being in Magna. Some just a few miles from it and felt it a lot stronger than I did. One of my siblings was in Magna though. My brother Lamoni works there and was at work when it happened. He was one of the first to call me. He described his work ceilings as cracking and small bits falling down with the floor beneath him as well as getting cracks. His boss evacuated everybody and sent them all home. Another one to call me was Pollyanna. She was home alone with her girls and everyone was woken awake when it first started. She was terrified and her girls were equally just as scared. Her husband was already at work and not home and she felt alone. Later in the day during one of our video chats an aftershock happened while we were talking and it broke my heart to see how nervous she was to stay in her home. More than eighty aftershocks happened throughout the day yesterday with the biggest being around 4.1. I read that it will be common for aftershocks to happen up to two weeks after the first one. Because we were a lot further away we didn't feel any of those aftershocks. Zero. I'm thankful for that because I'm really glad that Addie didn't know it even happened. My little girl can get really bad anxiety. She has nightmares and troubling worries about our house catching on fire and multiple times a week will ask questions about the smoke alarm in her room because she can't go to sleep until she knows she will be safe. If she only knew that earthquakes could be another thing to be scared about I don't think her little soul would be able to handle it. Maybe not. Maybe she might be a lot more emotionally strong than I think but with her fire anxiety I don't think I want to find out what she'd think of another disastrous possibility. Someone who was really struggling all day and who could feel all the aftershocks was my mom. She stayed in contact all day because she was so scared. I felt bad for all those who were scared. Luckily there were no fatalities.

This whole last week has been so strange. It really is feeling like the end of times. I kind of hope it's not. Only because it sounds too scary. I remember being seven years old and praying that the second coming would either come when I was really frail and old or not until I was already gone from the earth because the thought of it would terrify me. If I look at the facts though I can't deny the importance of preparing myself and my family both spiritually and physically. I was talking with one of my MTC mission friends today about everything going on and she shared this scripture with me.

2 Chronicles 7:13-14

{If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, 

or if I command the locusts to devour the land,

or if I send a pestilence among my people;

If my people, which are called by my name,

shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek

my face, and turn from their wicked ways;

then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin,

and will heal their land.}

It's only March however this year has already felt so long. Right now the earth is really struggling. Africa is dealing with swarms and swarms of locusts that is devouring all their crops. They are literally dealing with numbers in the billions. Australia had major fires that couldn't be controlled because of lack of rain and it was so dry. I mentioned at the beginning of this post that there was something going on that started in other parts of the world and now is hitting us. I'm talking about the current pandemic. A virus broke out in China that has sense spread like wildfire throughout the world. Numbers of cases have risen and everyone is doing their best to get these numbers under control but there is no vaccine and not much to do to prevent other than to stay at home and avoid human contact. Italy is being hit hard but the USA is on track to be right on par with Italy's numbers. I looked up the word pestilence and it means 'a fatal epidemic disease, especially bubonic plaque'. I feel like this scripture shouldn't be ignored as well as all of these signs that we need to not only physically prepare ourselves but also make sure that we're where we want to be spiritually. I don't know if it's the end of times quite yet but it sure feels like it. I had to go to the grocery store last week on the 12th to pick up some medication at their pharmacy center and it looked like people were preparing themselves for a zombie apocalypse. It was a surreal sight. Even the kids felt like something was off when we pulled up to the parking lot and not one space was available. We eventually got into a spot when someone moved and when we entered the store it felt like people were shopping on black Friday except instead of Christmas excitement it was unspoken terror and instead of toys in the carts it was stacks and stacks of groceries and toilet paper. Everyone was grabbing everything and the lines reached the back of the store. I wanted to leave as soon as we entered because the feeling was awful and I didn't want the kids to worry. We haven't told them about the virus going around and of all the people falling ill or dying from it. I think we will soon though. I worry that I might be sheltering them too much and if it would be better to just explain what is going on right now. Luckily since I was there for a prescription I was able to leave the store quickly. The pharmacist even suggested that I buy a few things at his counter since I was there with three young children. I felt a little bad for everyone that would be staying at least an hour in the checkout lines but I did take advantage and purchased a few items to take home. The plan was then for Danny to try the store first thing the next morning. He woke up early to get there at their usual opening time but there was a sign at the door saying that they had run out of almost everything and needed until the afternoon to restock and get themselves ready for customer’s that day. So he drove to a different store that luckily was open but he said it was like madness inside and most of the shelves were bare.

(Pictures from the grocery store the day I went with my kids to pick up a prescription)

Things are getting crazy here and I haven’t even mentioned that all church services have temporarily been canceled worldwide until further notice. School has also been cancelled. Both announcements happened on the 12th which explains why people were going crazy at the grocery store that day that I went to get a prescription. We’ll be doing church at home from now on until we’re directed otherwise. Schools are trying to think of a new system to implement for at home learning. Everyone is really encouraging social distancing right now which means that you cannot gather in groups of ten or more people and you need to keep a six foot distance from everyone around you (other than those in your immediate household). Things are really getting weird these days and I hope that by General Conference weekend this will all be gone. At least that’s what I’m hoping for because this is all too weird to accept as our new reality.